Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet shelled for 11 runs in 13-6 loss to Twins

The Red Sox entered Monday night riding momentum, fresh off back-to-back series wins, including taking two of three from the Cardinals. They had won four of their last five games and were coming off an offensive surge over their previous two contests.

Boston was looking to win three straight games for the first time this season, sending ace Garrett Crochet to the mound.

After retiring leadoff hitter Byron Buxton on a flyout to center, the wheels quickly came off, setting the tone for a nightmare outing from Crochet.

The left-hander labored through the first inning, throwing 31 pitches and surrendering four runs.

Austin Martin jump-started the rally, ripping his second double down the third-base line past Caleb Durbin. Jarren Duran mishandled the ball while trying to field it, but Martin’s speed likely had him headed to second regardless.

Crochet then compounded the damage with a wild pitch that Carlos Narváez couldn’t corral, allowing Martin to advance to third.

Twins rookie Luke Keaschall followed with a double to left, bringing home Martin, and Ryan Jeffers added an RBI single to plate Keaschall.

Crochet briefly settled, getting Josh Bell to fly out to the warning track in left, but the inning quickly unraveled again. He walked Victor Caratini and hit Matt Wallner, loading the bases.

Brooks Lee then hit a grounder up the middle that Trevor Story dove for but couldn’t secure. The ball came loose, along with Story’s glove, allowing two more runs to score.

The first inning was ugly, with the Twins plating four runs, but the second was even worse.

Crochet quickly loaded the bases, and the damage followed. Jeffers drove in a run, Bell ripped a two-run double, and Caratini delivered the knockout blow with a three-run homer to deep left.

Moments later, Ryan Kreidler added a solo shot to pile on, and at that point, Alex Cora had no choice but to turn to the bullpen.

Crochet endured one of the worst outings imaginable, allowing 11 runs while recording just five outs. He exited after throwing 55 pitches, only 30 for strikes. In the process, Crochet's ERA jumped to 7.58.

“It’s tough. I guess, I don’t really have anything to say,” Crochet said. “I’m just going to try and flush it as best as I can and move on to the next one. They had a good approach.”

The underlying metrics were just as alarming. Every pitch was down 1.2+ mph, and he generated only three whiffs on 24 swings while allowing eight hard-hit balls, three barrels, two home runs, three walks, and a hit-by-pitch. Crochet's 13 four-seam fastballs averaged 94.9 mph, down from his 96.1 mph season average. The spin rates across his arsenal, particularly on his cutter, were also down, according to Baseball Savant. 

Crochet downplayed any concerns about his velocity postgame.

“I don’t think that’s anything to fret over,” the lefty said

Entering the night, the American League Cy Young runner-up had been one of Boston’s most reliable arms since arriving via trade from the White Sox, going 20-6 with a 2.63 ERA over his first 35 starts with the club.

Monday’s outing marked the shortest start of his Red Sox tenure and the second shortest of his career, trailing only a rain-shortened appearance with the White Sox on Aug. 27, 2024, when he failed to record an out.

Cora said postgame that Crochet is healthy, the most important takeaway, but noted his stuff was down and that the Twins have been hitting left-handers well overall.

“It felt like had nothing going away from righties, everything was in, and they did an outstanding job covering pitches in that part,” Cora said. “Stuff was down, that’s the reality of it, but they’ve been doing that to a lot of lefties lately. Like I talked before the game, (Tarik) Skubal and Framber (Valdez), two lefties in Toronto, and now Garrett. So tip your hat to them, but at the same time we’ll take a look at it tomorrow and see where we’re at.”

No Red Sox starter has ever allowed